This update to the TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions includes:

Updated Fed EF Status column for Extensions

From this update forward, any federal extension returns will display in the Fed EF Status column in Client Manager with an “Ext:” in front of the status to better differentiate them from the filing of the full return.

We continue to check for updated status on extensions until there's a new status for the full return being filed.

This will only affect extensions filed after this update - extensions filed previously will show as "accepted" and will not be updated.

Reformatted Line Item Details screen

We minimized the number of lines displayed by default to 5 since a new line is added automatically when you click the last line shown.

The bottom buttons for “Save and Close” are always visible on screen no matter how many lines are included

We included an FAQ for information on what data can be attached to a return transmitted to the IRS (Line Item Details are NOT transmitted).

Removed reference to efstatus.taxact.com in Fed EF Status popup

On accepted returns, we no longer include this text for those who wish to print and give clients a copy of the EF Status without reference to taxact.com: "You can check your status anytime at efstatus.taxact.com"

This update to the TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal 1040 Edition includes changes related to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (aka "Extenders") signed by the President on February 9, 2018. Division D, Title I of this Act details which expired provisions were extended through the 2017 tax year. Once the bill passed, the IRS updated related tax forms and we've been working hard to get those changes incorporated into TaxAct.

The following provisions are included in this update:

Qualified Mortgage Premiums Deduction

Tuition and Fees Deduction

Cancellation of Mortgage Debt

Look for the following to be included in a future update of TaxAct:

Residential energy credit

02/02/2018 - Update to TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions

Federal 1040 1.05 & Federal 1041 1.04 includes:

An issue existed where data entered on Federal Schedule C was being cleared when you got the latest program update. This would happen when a Form 1099-MISC was attached to a Schedule C.

The fix in this update was to stop that data loss from occurring. If you have not opened and saved your return after a Federal update prior to this, you should not see a loss of tax return information. However, if you opened and saved one of these affected returns since updating to any version since 1.00 (prior to this update), you will need to re-enter this data into the tax return.

This update to the TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions includes:

Professional Reports enhancements based on customer feedback:

You can now opt to view more than 20 returns per page. Just select any number between 1 and however many returns you have available to view them on one page.

We've added sorting to the column headers so you can short each column alphabetically or numerically, depending on column. This will sort the entire list, not just what's visible on the current page.

Enhancements to our new Notes feature including:

Adding a search function so you can search for specific notes by their content

Allowing the user to adjust the separating bar between the list of notes and currently selected note

Allowing you to select multiple notes to delete by holding shift and making a selection

EF Logging for Online storage users to keep track of E-file events and errors by user

To access: Tools -> View Activity Logs -> Electronic Filing Logs

Fixed an issue in Client Notes where the "City" field was missing if selecting that your client has a foreign address.

01/26/2018 - Update to TaxAct 2017 Professional State Editions

We have noticed intermittent issues as it relates to crashes in our 1040, 1065, 1120 and 1120S state products released the morning of January 24th (full list shown below). These issues have been corrected as of the morning of January 26th. In order to correct any issues, you will need to get the latest version of the products shown below.

Once you've selected a 2016 return, that return will remain available the next time you view that comparison feature (even after closing the return).

If you imported your last year TaxAct returns, we'll select the file for 2016 automatically for those clients.

We've added a new column to Client Manager for showing the "locked" status of returns. If you previously installed TaxAct 2017, you will need to add this new column to your Client Manager.

For MN state preparers, we added a "Preparer Type" you'll want to select in Master Information, as this is required on MN returns. That selection will flow automatically to all your MN returns, so you won't have to make the selection on each return.

12/19/2017 — Version .93 of TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions

This update to the TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions includes:

Added NEW Locked Returns feature so that returns can be locked for editing

Users can now set a preference to "Automatically lock returns after E-filing" but you will need to check this for it to take effect.

You can also manually lock/unlock returns from Client Manager through the right click menu – even holding CTRL or SHIFT keys to select multiple returns to lock/unlock at once.

Fixed an issue where Document Manager was slow or unresponsive after a period of time.

Fixed an issue where the dependent was being duplicated in the 2016 return when using the side-by-side comparison.

12/05/2017 - Version .92 of TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions.

This update to the TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions includes:

We added a checkbox in Preparer Preferences for "Print in Duplex" to have your printed tax documents default to printing on both sides of the paper (assuming this is supported by your printer).

NOTE: Colorado state is requesting that separate forms are printed independently of one another - so a new form won't start on the back of the previous form when printing duplex.

Fixed an issue where Document Manager was slow or unresponsive after a period of time.

Fixed an issue where the dependent was being duplicated in the 2016 return when using the side-by-side comparison.

11/21/2017 — Version .91 of TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions

This update to the TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions includes a major update to our Notes feature:

Notes are now accessible from Client Manager (same location as previous years) and additionally from within the client return

To access through Client Manager, you'll right click on the client name and select "Edit Client Notes" from the menu

When accessing from Client Manager, the focus will remain on the notes until you close the window.

To access Notes through the return, we added a new "Notes" button to the tool bar. This is accessible in both Forms and Q&A views.

When accessing from within the return, the preparer can keep the notes window up while they are focused on other areas of the return.

The preparer can also re-size the notes window, making it larger or smaller. When sizing down, the window changes from a horizontal layout to vertical layout.

11/07/2017 — Version .90 of TaxAct 2017 Professional Federal Editions

The initial release of the 2017 Federal Editions includes the following enhancements: